Khanate of Turkestan
The Khanate of Turkestan, also known as Turkestan, is a large country located in Central and East Asia. Formed out of the former Turkic soviet nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, aswell as the former Russian Federal Subjects of Bashkortorstan, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Altai, and Tuva, and the former Chinese Provinces of Xinjiang and Qinghai. The country is the fourth of the largest country in the world by land area and is the largest landlocked country in the world, bordering China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Armenia, Pakistan, India and the Caspian Sea. Turkestan's terrain ranges from flat lands to high mountainous regions and valleys. Turkestan was formed out of the collapse of the Soviet Union, with the former Turkic Soviet Nations forming a Union, with other Federal Subjects of Russia later joining in the late 1990's. The Turkic Majority Chinese Province of Xanjiang (Tibet) joined the Union in 2002, followed later by Turkic Majority Province Qinghai. Turkestan is a culturally diverse nation with different Turkic Cultures and Langauges, ranging from its official langauge, Turkmen, to Russian, Chinese, and Azerbaijani. Turkestan has a total population on XXXX made up of over 140 ethnicities including Russian, German, Ukranian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Atlai, and Tibetan, most of Turkic background. Turkestan has since developed a balanced foreign policy, consisting of gross Natural Gas Exports, as the nation sits on the largest deposit of Natural Gas in the world, aswell as its Space Industry at Baikonur Cosmodrome which is the main global space launching site after the United States ended the Discovery Program. The Turkestan Space Program operates out of the Cosmodrome. Turkestan also has a large agricultural sector. Turkestan is a Constitutional Monarhcy, led by a Khan, with a Parliamentary System based in Turkestan's capital city of Astana. Turkestan's Monarchy is strictly cultural and ceremonial, and the Khan does not have any governmental power. Turkestan is a very tolerant country when it comes to religions, and is constitutionally secular, while most of its population practice Islam and Buddhism. The Turkmen Language is the state language, while Russian, Azerbaijani and Uzbek are also major languages within the country. History Politics Government See Main: Government of Turkestan Turkestan's head of state is the ceremonial Khan. The office of the Khan is a purely ceremonial rule, and has the sole purposes of representing Turkestan, and upholding its contistution within the running of the government. Turkestan's goverment is split into three branches. The Executive Arm comprises of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, while the Legislative Arm comprises of Turkestan's unicameral legislature, the People's Assembly of Turkestan. The Judicial Arm comprises of the Superior Courts of Turkestan, and the Ministry of Justice. Turkestan has three major political parties, the Yeni Yolu Party the main Secular Social Liberal Party of Turkestan, the Just Turkestan Party, calling for fairness, secularism, freedom and solidarity with minor social policies, and the Muhafazakar Party, the conservative party of Turkestan. While other political parties represented within the Peoples Assembly are the Communist Party of Turkestan, the Islamic Turkestan Party, the Adalet Party, the Pirate Party of Turkestan believing in freedom of speech and intellectual property, and the Turkic Nationalist Party. Foreign Policy and Relations Turkestan is an active member of the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council. Turkestan is also a member of the World Trade Organisation, G20, the World Bank Organisation, Organisation for Economic Cooperative Development, BRICT also known as The 'Big Five', and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. BRICT, or Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkestan, all of which are at the same general stage of development, despite Turkestan's criticisms of Russia and China. Turkestan has relatively neutral relations with many of its direct neighbours, however retains strained relations with China over its territorial dispute over Tibet and Qinghai Province, aswell as Russia following criticisms of Putin's regime, particularly following the inprisonment of the band 'Pussy Riot.' Turkestan also has strained relations with the United States following Turkestan's criticisms towards the countries 'invasive foreign policy,' with the Prime Minster stating that they 'should mind their own business' while refusing large Natural Gas Exports to the country, with its main customers being the EU and China. However Turkestan allows the transport of Russian, American and Chinese Astronauts to the International Space Station by the Turkestan Space Agency from Baikonur Cosmodrome, the last way for Astronauts to reach the station following the discontinuation of NASA's Discovery Program. Turkestan retains an embassy in most countries, including the partially recognised state of Northern Cyprus, which the country recognises along with Turkey. Military Administrative Divisions See Main; Administrative Divisions of Turkestan Turkestan is divided into 10 cultural and geographic regions that have no adminsitrative power. The geographic regions follow similar boundaries to the former nations, and have their own regional language and ethnic majority. These geographic regions are then divided into Provinces, which are represented in the Peoples Assembly of Turkestan. Provinces are then divided into Districts, which are the subdivided into individual Villages, Towns and Cities. The Autonomous Region of Tibet , holds special autonomy within the country, governed by the People's Government of Tibet. Geography Turkestan is the largest landlocked country in the world, with the Caspian Sea separating the bulk of the country from its two exclaves, former Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. Turkestan, altogether borders 9, countries, Afghanistan, Armenia, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, and the Russian Federation. Turkestan has a wide range of geographic regions, ranging from the desolate Karakum Desert to the south of the country, to the edge of the Himalayan Mountains, and the high altitude Tibetan Plateau to the East of the country. Economy Turkestan's National Currency is the Turkic Terazi, issued by the Central Bank of Turkestan in Astana. Turkestan currently has a Free Market Economy, kept afloat by the export prices of Crude Oil and Natural Gas with the largest gas company being Turkgaz, with other major exports being textiles, livestock, agriculture, consumer technology, and other manufactured items. Turkestan is one of the most wealthy countries in Asia, which in turn is due to its size, aswell as its location, sitting on top of the largest reserve of natural gas in the world, aswell as its position with the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and since its formation has seen much of its GDP come from exporting its natural resources and agriculture. Formerly known as an undeveloped country, Turkestan has seen improvements to its industry and infrastructure since its formation in 1991, currently with a 'Very High' Human Development Index, and ranking Third in the World, after Australia and Norway, and before the United States. Various institutions across the globe have stated that along with India, China and Japan, Turkestan could grow to become a major world power in the coming years. Infrastructure Science and Technology Since the countries formation the Turkestan Space Agency (TSA), has been involved in several space missions, aswell as being part of the International Space Station (ISS) Program. Since the discontinuation of NASA's discovery program, Turkestan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, owned by the TSA, has become the only way of cargo and personnel reaching the ISS, which has greatly benefitted the TSA with its main program, the Sinir Program. Turkestan has also launched several of its own satellites, including several mapping and reconissance satellites, as well as the Turkestan Luna Exploration Program. Turkestan's Space Exploration has been fuelled by the large amount of money the government has designated for the TSA. Transport Education Education in Turkestan is provided by the state, however Private Schools also exist, and do not gain state funding. Education is the responsiblity of the Public Service Ministry of Turkestan and has improved greatly since the country's formation and the loss of Soviet Teachings, in favour of more intellectual and non-biased teachings. Turkestan has some of the most prestigious educational institutes in Central Asia, such as the University of Turkestan in Astana, and the Tashkent University. Health Healthcare is free at time of use in Turkestan, with the funding for the National Healthcare Service brought from Taxes, aswell as limited funding and grants from the government's Ministry of Health. Healthcare has increased in quality since the country's formation, with Soviet Era practices and technology phased out, in favour of western practices and technology, and today Turkestan's healthcare service is one of the best in Central Asia. Demographics Cities Tashkent_street_view.jpg|Tashkent is the most populous city in Turkestan Xining_2008.png|Xining is the 5th most populous city in Turkestan. AstanaKazakh.jpg|Astana is the capital, and 10th most populous city of Turkestan. Language The Official National Language of Turkestan'Government is Turkmen, while Russian is one of the most spoken languages due to the conutry's soviet background. However many regional languages are spoken throughout the country, such as Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Uyghur, Tatar, Bashkor, Tajik, Kyrgyz and Kazakh. Religion Culture [[Category:Turkestan]